Winemaker notes: This goes back to a special 30-year vertical tasting of Grüner Veltliner, which took place in the banquet hall of Schloss Gobelsburg. At this tasting, I was asked by a journalist how the wines would have tasted in their youth. This question stayed with me for a long time, and it led me to explore and learn more about the methods and practices of that time. I had many long talks with the senior abbot, Fr. Bertrand, who had been responsible for the wines of Schloss Gobelsburg in the “old days”. Then came the strong wish to resurrect the character of the wines that had dominated these cellars for centuries.
The grapes were pressed softly with only a few twists (as with a tree press), filled without degumming into a large Manhartsberg oak cask (25 hectoliters), and then spontaneously fermented without cooling. Following fermentation, the wine was racked three times until it was almost completely pure. The wine was bottled after maturing in the cask for 18 months.